


With Your Hand In Mine

by lululawrence



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, American Louis Tomlinson, American Nick Grimshaw, Banter, Based on We Made It, Confessions, Everyone is American, Friends to Lovers, Haunted Houses, Holding Hands, M/M, No Smut, One Shot, Pining, Song fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:41:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23814001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: Louis reached out and latched his hand onto Nick’s arm. “What was that?”“One of the previous inmates that mysteriously died here, I’d imagine,” Nick whispered into Louis’ ear.Louis shivered, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of Nick being so close or the fact he was growing more and more concerned that he was going to pee his pants during this.Okay, it was the latter if the shot of anxiety currently running through him was any indication, but he did have goosebumps from Nick’s breath grazing Louis’ neck as well.Or the one where Louis hates haunted houses, Nick likes them, and Louis likes Nick. Things end better than Louis expects.
Relationships: Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 7
Kudos: 38
Collections: Walls Fic Fest





	With Your Hand In Mine

**Author's Note:**

> A certain someone (ahem [Emmu](https://londonfoginacup.tumblr.com) ahem) made a throwaway comment in a group chat that a WMI fic would obviously have to be about Louis and crew making it through a haunted house. I took their suggestion and ran with it. This is therefore also based on the several trips I made to the former state penitentiary during uni for the haunted aspect. My last year they had someone new running the haunted house and they turned it into more of a jump scare type of thing and it became infinitely less creepy. That said, Louis and Grimmy get a much happier end to their haunted house love story than I ever did with the various people I pined for. Good for them. 
> 
> I had a wonderful beta, [Maggie](https://disgruntledkittenface.tumblr.com). Thank you! Massive thanks to Nic and Maggie for running this fest as well. I loved writing for it.
> 
> The title comes from, predictably, We Made It. I do not own the characters, this is a work of fiction, please don't share this with anyone associated with them, blah blah blah. I also do not allow translations or respostings without my express permission. 
> 
> Thank you, and I hope you enjoy my silly little fic!

Louis shifted his weight in an attempt to help ease the pain in his feet. 

Or at least that’s what he told himself he was doing. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was incredibly nervous about going into the old state penitentiary. Of course not. 

Louis wasn’t a huge fan of haunted houses to begin with, but the fact that the former state penitentiary didn’t use any of the usual slasher and gore styled quick scare tactics made it worse. So very much worse. Louis had heard stories from friends about how creepy the empty cells were as they had to walk past them with only a quarter of the usual lights turned on. 

He’d been fully prepared to say no to this particular outing too, but then Nick asked. Anyone other than Nick and Louis would have easily been able to say no. Even to Harry, who had perfected the innocent doe eyes and guilt trips.

Nick was different, though. Louis had been pining after him for ages. There was just something about his tall, floppy haired self that Louis craved being around. He was modest and self-deprecating, and hysterical, with the fastest wit Louis had ever witnessed. Everything about him made Louis want more, and that had been the case over the past four years they’d known each other.

This was the first time Nick had openly shown interest in Louis being somewhere, and Louis couldn’t say no to that. The hour and a half drive had even looked promising because there were eight of them cramming themselves into Harry’s mom’s minivan and Nick had followed Louis to the back seat. Louis had never been guaranteed to be so physically close to Nick for such a long amount of time, and he felt like the fates were smiling on him.

But then Harry and Niall had started reading true stories about the history of the penitentiary during the drive and Louis had slowly grown more and more freaked out. He thought maybe the line to get inside would give him time to calm down, but Nick had sidled up beside Louis and kept reminding him of the creepiest parts. And then there was a metal band playing live as the line wrapped around the field in front of the building, and their music instilled Louis with even more fear.

Now, they were almost to the front of the line and there were videos playing of people walking through different parts of the building, and Louis noticed something. They weren’t being led by anyone.

“Wait, how do people know where to go?” Louis asked the group at large.

“You lead yourself,” Nick said, wagging his eyebrows. “There’s signs and things so you know where to go and other options are locked so you can’t get lost or anything.”

Louis stared at him. “Seriously? They just let groups randomly walk around and lead themselves?”

Nick nodded then pointed at one of the TV sets. The screen had gone a little wonky and someone obviously not with a group walked past the camera.

The man was dressed like an inmate.

Louis reached out and latched his hand onto Nick’s arm. “What was that?”

“One of the previous inmates that mysteriously died here, I’d imagine,” Nick whispered into Louis’ ear.

Louis shivered, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of Nick being so close or the fact he was growing more and more concerned that he was going to pee his pants during this.

Okay, it was the latter if the shot of anxiety currently running through him was any indication, but he did have goosebumps from Nick’s breath grazing Louis’ neck as well.

“Nick,” Louis said once he was sure it wouldn’t come out as a squeak. “I hate you so fucking much.”

“Well, you heard some of the stories Niall and Harry were telling on the way down here,” Nick said with a laugh that made Louis punch him.

Pulling away from the comfort Nick physically provided, Louis wrapped his arms around himself and tried to convince himself he was only doing it because the wind had picked up and he was cold. 

“The largest group they’ll take is six, so we’re going to have to have two of us go with someone else,” Harry said after getting everyone to gather closer. “Any volunteers?”

“Me and Louis can just hang with the next group. Right?” Nick said, nudging Louis with his elbow.

Louis’ eyes widened as he looked at Nick. The fuck was he doing volunteering them to go with another group? Louis had been fully anticipating being able to grab any of the guys they’d come with for protection if he needed to, but now it was just going to be the two of them with some random strangers?

Nick leaned in and said, “I’ll protect you,” before winking.

That fucker.

Narrowing his eyes at Nick, Louis turned to Harry and said, “Yeah, we’ll go with the next group. No problem.”

“Thanks, Lou!” Harry said, probably relieved he wouldn’t have to decide on someone else to cut off from the group. Harry always wanted to include everyone in his group activities and hated the idea of making someone feel unwanted or like they weren’t part of the group. It was part of the reason Louis had gotten to know Nick in the first place.

And now it was just going to be the two of them with some strangers, wandering through the old prison. Great. Fantastic.

Louis tried to look at the bright side. At least this way he had the excuse that when he got scared, Nick was the only one he knew so he would  _ have _ to hold onto him.

“Hey, Grim?”

“Fuck, must be serious if you’re actually calling me by my nickname,” Nick said, surprise on his face. 

Louis stared at him to show he really was serious about this next part, and Nick’s face softened.

“Shit, okay. What’s up?”

Licking his lips, Louis steeled himself for his next admission. “I legit hate haunted houses and all the scary shit associated with Halloween. If you leave me behind or anything like that, you are dead. Okay?”

Nick didn’t crack a smile or have that snarky look in his eyes. He just nodded and said, “Sure. Stick with you no matter what. Got it.”

Giving him a small smile, Louis didn’t say anything before turning back to the televisions that randomly showed static before changing to another camera filled with people clinging to each other as they made their way through.

“So, if you hate this stuff, why did you come?”

Louis’ heart started to race. Of course Nick couldn’t just let it be and allow Louis to live his life in peace.

Licking his lips, Louis gave a weak smile. “Harry was so excited about it, I couldn’t let him down.”

Nick narrowed his eyes. “You literally turned him down for every other haunted house this year  _ and _ last, if I remember correctly. I’m calling your bluff. It’s something else.”

Louis’ cheeks burned with a blush so strong that Nick could likely see it despite the poor lighting. God, why did Louis like him so much? Nick was a huge pain in the ass.

“I just…” Louis looked at the ground and kicked a pebble by his foot. Swallowing hard, Louis glanced at Nick. “Wanted to prove to myself I could. Plus, I didn’t think it would be that bad since they don’t have guys with chainsaws chasing after you and shit.”

Nick hummed, studying his face like he wasn’t sure whether to believe Louis or not. Thankfully, he nodded and seemingly accepted Louis’ answer as he turned back to the rest of their group.

It only took another twenty minutes for their group to get to the start of the tour and get divided up. Louis gave a nervous smile and waved as their six friends eagerly made their way forward. 

Once they were out of sight, Nick leaned in and said, “You won’t make fun of me if I scream like a girl, right?”

Louis looked at him out of the side of his eye and smiled. “I’ll do nothing of the sort. Everyone will know every weakness you show during this.”

Rolling his eyes, Nick groaned. “Of course they will. You’ll come off sounding like the brave one even if you’re not, and I’ll be laughed at. Wouldn’t expect anything else.”

Louis worried for a moment that Nick was seriously concerned, but when he turned to look at him, he had his usual smirk. Louis shook his head. “You’ll love the attention, don’t act like you won’t.”

“Oh, I absolutely will. Especially if some of it is from you.”

Louis turned to look at Nick so fast he felt like a cartoon character, but before he could say anything the guy allowing people to start the tour got their attention.

“Next group of six!”

Louis checked behind them and saw a group of four coming closer to them before the guy nodded and waved them forwards.

They hadn’t taken three steps before Louis felt a hand grab his own and slot their fingers together. He could barely see them in the dim light, but they felt perfect as they gripped each other tight.

“Just to be sure I don’t lose you,” Nick said, sounding nervous. “I’m gonna kill young Harold for this.”

Louis laughed nervously and they started going the direction marked. They made a couple of turns and then started climbing stairs.

“I’m not sure how I feel going to a higher level,” Louis said, gripping Nick’s hand even tighter. He pulled himself as close to Nick as possible before continuing. “We didn’t sign any waivers, so they can’t do anything to us like they can at that haunted hospital they used to do in Marysville or whatever, right?”

There were only the bare minimum of lights on in the hallways and everything was eerily quiet once they’d walked a few feet away from the entrance. After listening to live metal music and usual Halloween styled spooky sounds for what felt like forever, the silence was ringing in his ears and left Louis feeling even more jumpy.

The gray walls seemed endless until they finally reached a sign pointing towards a door that was mostly closed.

“We’re… supposed to just go through a closed door?” Louis asked, his voice going a little squeaky. He really didn’t like that there wasn’t a guide and they were basically fending for themselves.

“I mean, that’s what the sign says…” Nick said, looking behind them at the other group before he shrugged his shoulders. 

They went ahead and opened it slowly, looking around it before making their way through. Louis knew they all had the understanding that no one was going to jump out at them, but as they entered a large hall with cells sitting empty in the shadows, he wondered if it was more creepy this way. There weren’t any windows, the only light coming from every other industrial style light hanging from the ceiling, and Louis was beginning to regret the fifteen bucks he paid for this.

“What the fuck!” Nick yelled before putting his arms around Louis and pushing him towards the center of the hall.

“What? What?” Louis yelled above the screaming from the girls behind them and a sharp yelp of surprise from one of the guys.

“What the fuck,” Nick whispered as he panted. “I should have brought my fucking inhaler.”

Louis finally was able to look over Nick’s shoulder where he saw an inmate walking right where they had been, the cell now sitting wide open.

“Shit,” Louis said, looking around. Now that he was looking for it, several cells were sitting open. How many others were walking around like inmates here? “Come on, if we go fast then hopefully we’ll just finish faster, yeah?”

Nick nodded and kept walking. The other group of four had sped ahead of them, so they jogged to catch up. Louis reached out and snatched Nick’s hand again, squeezing tightly. Their skin was getting sweaty where they were linked, but he didn’t care. The only thing keeping him from completely losing it at the moment was knowing Nick was there.

Once they were finally able to get out of the hall with cells, they were taken on a maze through a bunch of smaller rooms, looking like they’d been abandoned in the middle of the day however long ago the penitentiary had been closed. 

“Feels like we’re trespassing or doing something naughty,” Nick said. He kept his voice quiet, but it felt like it was both eaten by the silence and somehow echoing back at them from the bare corners of the empty room they were currently walking through.

“I don’t like this,” one of the girls whined as she practically wrapped herself around another girl from their group. “It feels like something’s about to happen.”

“Well, thanks for that,” Louis mumbled under his breath, pulling even closer to Nick. 

He felt Nick’s shoulder shake as he chuckled, and Louis couldn’t help but smile. He knew he’d be glad for the chance he had to hold Nick’s hand and be so close to him afterwards, but right now he could only just process that he made Nick laugh. It felt like a win.

The next door led them to another set of stairs, but this time there wasn’t any direction. They stood in the stairwell and looked at each other. 

“Think we’re meant to go downstairs now?” the guy from the other group asked. 

“I don’t really want to go upstairs if I don’t have to,” the scared girl said, echoing Louis’ thoughts. “I feel like going down will get us out of here faster and as much as I loved the idea of this place, it’s way more creepy than I expected. I wanna get out as fast as I can.”

Louis and Nick followed the group down the stairs, all of them keeping close together. For whatever reason it felt like there was strength in numbers despite the fact they were walking through a mostly empty former prison. He wasn’t sure what the numbers would protect them from, especially since there were cameras everywhere and he knew logically nothing was really going to be a danger to them here, but the creepy crawly feeling under his skin that they were being watched wouldn’t leave him.

Once they went down the flight of stairs, they tried the door and sighed with relief when it opened.

Louis wasn’t so pleased when it opened, though. It was a large open space with ceilings that went all the way up to the roof and as he looked up he realized there were three levels of cells that could be viewed from where they were standing. It looked like the hall went most of the length of the building sitting in front of them and then turned left and continued. 

“I guess that’s the direction we go,” Louis said and started walking. 

They kept tightly packed and they were about halfway through when they heard screams from another part of the prison that made them all jump and gather together even closer.

Louis and Nick were at the back again, and Louis wasn’t sure he liked this position, though he certainly liked it better than taking the lead. 

But then he felt breath on the back of his neck. Assuming it was Nick messing with him, Louis looked to his right, but Nick was facing the other direction. From the corner of his eye, Louis saw something and realized there was a prisoner walking directly behind them.

Panic flooded Louis’ entire body and all he knew was that he needed to get out of there as fast as possible. Screaming at the top of his lungs, Louis started pushing against the girls in front of him in an attempt to run.

“Go, go, go!” he yelled on repeat as the group turned around and all saw the prisoner Louis had felt breathing on him. 

“Fuck!” Nick yelled before screaming a bit and yanking on Louis’ hand. 

From there, the group didn’t stop running. They ran the rest of the length of the room and when they turned the corner, it looked like they’d finally reached the end. They bolted for the door, Louis never once letting go of Nick. He felt like he was his lifeline. If he lost Nick, one of them wouldn’t make it out and that was  _ not  _ okay.

They got to the door that led outside and once they were on the grass behind the building, they were surrounded by the tiki torches and floodlights again as well as people milling around as they waited for friends in the porta potties or getting hot chocolate.

Seeing his surroundings, Louis stopped, dropped Nick’s hand, and leaned over. He braced his hands against his knees and tried to calm his racing heart and his breathing. Fuck, that was one of the scariest situations he’d ever been in.

“Oh my God, I thought we were gonna die,” Nick wheezed as he threw himself on the ground. “I can’t believe we made it! We survived!”

Louis laughed somewhat hysterically. God, he had been so fucking scared of that worker dressed like an inmate at the end. They literally did the bare minimum when it came to anything inside of that place, and he was still filled with the heebie-jeebies. 

“That was a mindfuck,” Louis said with a laugh. “But yeah, we made it.”

Louis finally felt up to straightening up and looking for the rest of their friends. He’d expected them to be right by the exit since they were the group in front of them, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Nick pulled himself off the ground and, as he dusted his jeans off, looked around. “Niall’s usually loud enough to find easily enough, but I don’t think they’re out yet.”

“How’d we beat them?” Louis scoffed. “That’s logistically impossible, right?”

“Unless they went upstairs when we went down,” Nick pointed out.

Louis nodded. “Well, they should be with us soon then, right?”

They shuffled over so they were out of the way of those that were exiting behind them, but still close enough to easily see when their friends were done. 

“So,” Nick said, inching closer and shuffling his feet. 

Louis looked over and Nick wasn’t even looking at him. He was staring at the line for hot chocolate or something, but Louis didn’t mind so much. The lighting allowed him to see some of the fine wrinkles that were already showing up beside Nick’s eyes. There were shadows from his hair, floppy and loose across his forehead after running through the prison.

Nick still hadn’t followed up with anything, though, so Louis smirked and kicked at Nick’s shoe.

“So…” Louis prompted.

Nick smiled, looking amused and glanced at Louis. “Would you punch me again if I were to hold your hand now that we’re done with the whole haunted house thing?”

It felt like everything had frozen in place so every nerve ending in Louis’ body could focus on the man beside him.

Finally blinking so the world was set back into motion, Louis scrunched his nose a bit. “No, probably not.” After a pause, he gathered his courage. “Might even like you to, actually.”

“Yeah?” Nick asked, finally turning and facing Louis directly. “You’re not just making fun?”

Louis laughed and reached out to take Nick’s hand himself. Just like before, he marveled at the way their hands fit together and felt so  _ right. _

“I’m definitely not just making fun.”

Nick hummed and, with a quick squeeze of their hands, said, “Good.”

They stood in silence, smiling at each other like idiots, until the rest of the group came laughing and screaming out of the penitentiary. 

“Look at those scaredy cats!” Nick called. Shooting a wink at Louis he looked back at their friends and said, “We’ve been waiting here for ages. This place is so boring, isn’t it?”

Louis chuckled and leaned forward to warm his cold nose on Nick’s shoulder. His hoodie smelled like both smoke from the tiki torches they stood next to in line and fabric softener. It was nice.

The group teased each other the entire way back to the van and once they’d all crammed back in, Louis was even more pleased to be smashed into Nick’s side for the long drive back. Nick looped his arm around Louis’ shoulders and, as he carried on conversation with the others, alternated between rubbing Louis’ shoulder and playing with his hair.

Louis might still hate haunted houses, but he felt like he and Nick had made it in more than one sense, and there was nothing in the world that he would change it for.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I survive on nice comments and kudos :D I _also_ survive on reblogs of the fic post, which you can find [here](https://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/618463859029819392/with-your-hand-in-mine-by-lululawrence-nick).


End file.
